Finally At Peace
by KairiMisty
Summary: Tifa goes to the Church in the Slums looking for Cloud. She finds him slumped over next to his chest. She thinks he's asleep, only to discover he is dead, fallen prey Geostigma that had somehow returned. His entire left torso is covered in sickening green markings, disgusting greenish black pus seeming from it.


Disclaimer; I do not own any of these characters or this game.

Another prompt request I was asked to write;

Tifa goes to the Church in the Slums looking for Cloud. She finds him slumped over next to his chest. She thinks he's asleep, only to discover he is dead, fallen prey Geostigma that had somehow returned. His entire left torso is covered in sickening green markings, disgusting greenish black pus seeming from it. He had hidden here, unable to face Tifa, or to let her know his Geostigma was back. In his arms was a letter to Tifa. Written are his final thoughts and confession.

* * *

He had been gone for so long, back to like it was before. No phone call, no text, not even a letter. It was beginning to worry her, she knew he was an adult and he could take care of himself but she couldn't help but feel that itching worry that gnawed within her, always thinking about others before herself. It was something she had become accustomed to; part of her nature.

Deciding to get off her backside and do something about it, she put on her converse and made her way out of the bar. With the children at Barret's for the weekend, she was by herself and she didn't feel like opening the bar—something didn't feel right in the air today. Where would be the best place to look? It was a question she knew didn't even need an answer. Her feet moved on their own towards Sector 5, the place with the beautiful church which her best friend spent time in tending to her flowers; oh, how she missed her.

Pushing open the huge wooden doors, she peeked inside tentatively. It looked like no one was there and seeing that Fenrir wasn't parked outside, it didn't seem that he was here. However, once she entered, her trainers creaking on the old wooden floorboards, she noticed the black bike in the distance which had been half-hazardly tossed against one of the pews—ebony eyebrows raised in confusion as she made her way further in, it certainly wasn't like Cloud to be so careless with his prize possession. Was everything okay? She wondered where he was.

Upon further inspection, she noticed feet stuck out from behind the fallen down beam, her heart pounding rapidly; it was obviously him, there was no doubt about that, not many people came here anymore. "Cloud?" She called out in a meek and timid voice, something she only did when she was truly terrified of what she was about to discover. Walking over to him, carmine hues widened in shock as she gazed down at the blonde warrior who lay slumped against the beam—his skin was a sickly pale colour. Her shaking fingers reached out to touch his flesh. _Freezing._ Just as she expected, he had been there a while. Retracting her apendage as fast at lightning, she began to shake nervously. It couldn't be, could it? No. He wasn't. He couldn't be. NO!

Cloud Strife was dead.

She fell back into a sitting position from her crouching down one and felt hot tears stinging her eyes—each one slowly cascading down her porcelain cheeks. How could she not have known this? How come anyone hadn't come looking for him? **How come ****_she_**** hadn't gone looking for him earlier than today? **This was her fault, maybe she could have helped him and prevented something if she was faster.

What had caused this? Had someone hurt him? She needed to inspect, there were too many questions left unanswered and she knew she couldn't take it anymore. Perching herself on her knees beside him on his left side, she chose to rip open his shirt to check for any injuries—he certainly was killed by something, he couldn't have just peacefully passed away at the age of twenty-five, could he?

With Fenrir in such a careless manner at his right side, it was obvious that he had been in pain and had staggered off the bike and slumped down next to the nearest thing he could. Upon having his chest revealed to her, blurred eyes tried their hardest to focus themselves as she wiped away unshed tears furiously away with the back of her right hand before gazing down in horror at his almost mutant like flesh. She had seen a lot in her time but seeing such a nasty thing practically painting his skin black like a canvas upon someone so dear to her made her feel ill. She knew she needed to remain strong though. Green puss seeped down his almost grey-like skin of his ribcage and dripped to the floor; what could she do?!

Noticing a crumbled piece of paper laying atop of his precious chest filled to the brim with materia, she leaned over him to retrieve it and read his scrawl. It was messy and rushed but that was the least thing that mattered now, she could read it and that was all she wanted. He had left her a note to explain what had happened, even on his deathbed.

_Tifa,_ _When you find me, I will most likely be gone. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the times I have screwed up and I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about this. You and the children mean too much to me and I needed to find a way to distance myself from you guys, this wasn't the right way to do it, I know but I didn't know how to tell you. I failed. Again. You've been so good to me over the years and I didn't live up to that promise that I made you before I left for SOLDIER. I wanted to fulfil it for you but no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't. I understand that you will probably be so angry with me now and maybe a little upset but please, don't be. You can live now, without having to worry for me. You can be free, find someone worthy of you. I'm going to miss you all and I want you to tell the kids that I did love them, I thought the world of them even though I didn't show it. Something I now regret._ _Tell Cid and Barret I'll miss them and Vincent… make sure you tell him thank you, he'll understand. I want you to give all my materia to Yuffie and tell her that I am proud of her and I have something that I would like to tell you; I have the courage now, even though I am in agony as I write this and I know I will be dead in the next few hours. I've always had feelings for you, Tifa. Something which I've never been able to tell you and I just wanted you to know someway or another. So just keep that in mind, you mean more to me than you'd even know. Keep that smile on your face, you make so many proud._ _Cloud._

She noticed a few dried smudged patches on the paper which seemed as though they were dried out tears from when he had been writing it. Turning to look at his face which was now peaceful, she leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss upon his head. The cool atmosphere which surrounded him radiating off making her shiver; he was so cold. Reaching around his shoulders, she shifted him with ease into a laying position and placed her leather shirt under his head leaving her in only her white tank top.

Her hand stroked through his spikes tenderly as she spent this moment with his corpse, tears streaming down her face, mulling over ways to explain this to the rest of AVALANCHE and the kids. This was going to be hard and she knew it. Biting her lower lip, she traced his lips with her right thumb and gave a sad smile. "I have feelings for you too, Cloud."

He was finally at peace.


End file.
